Scott Higginbotham

Scott Higginbotham

Higginbotham at the 2011 RWC
Full name	Scott Higginbotham
Date of birth	(1986-09-05) 5 September 1986 (age 30)
Place of birth	Perth, Western Australia, Australia
Height	1.95 m (6 ft 5 in)
Weight	110 kg (17 st 5 lb)
School	The Southport School (TSS)
Rugby union career
Playing career
Position	Blindside Flanker / Number Eight
Professional / senior clubs Years Club / team Apps (points) 2007 2014 2015 2015− Ballymore Tornadoes Melbourne Rising Brisbane City NEC Green Rockets 3 0 6 18 (15) (0) (15) (30) Correct as of 24 July 2016
Super Rugby Years Club / team Apps (points) 2008–12 2013–15 2017− Reds Rebels Reds 64 45 (85) (75) Correct as of 14 June 2015
National team(s) Years Club / team Apps (points) 2010– Australia 32 (15) Correct as of 23 August 2015

Scott Higginbotham (born 5 September 1986) is an Australian rugby union player. He currently plays for the Queensland Reds and holds 32 caps for Australia's national team, the Wallabies. His usual positions are blindside flanker and number eight.

Higginbotham currently holds the record for highest try-scoring forward in Super Rugby history.

Higginbotham was educated at The Southport School, on the Gold Coast, Queensland. His mother was born in Fiji and is part-Fijian, which made him eligible to play internationally for Fiji, something which Higginbotham contemplated before being accepted into the Wallabies.

In 2007-2008, Higginbotham played international rugby sevens for the Australian national rugby sevens team.

In 2007, Higginbotham was the Queensland Reds Academy Player of the Year, and made his Super 14 debut with the Reds the following year against the Bulls. Higginbotham was an integral member of the Reds team that won the Super Rugby championship in 2011.

In August 2010, Higginbotham was named as a reserve for Australia to play against South Africa in Pretoria. Higginbotham made his international test debut for the Wallabies against France on November 27, 2010 at the State de France.

In 2013, Higginbotham commenced a two-year contract for the Melbourne Rebels. Higginbotham was expected to bring size and versatility to the Rebels loose-forwards. Rebels coach Damien Hill said that "[In Higginbotham] you've got one of the best ball-running, lineout jumping options in Australian rugby." Hill praised Higginbotham for his "aggression and intent at contact". Throughout 2013, Higginbotham acted as fill-in captain for the injured Rebels' skipper Gareth Delve, and in 2014 Higginbotham was officially announced as the captain for the Rebels, a position he held for the remainder of his tenure with the club. In his final Super Rugby campaign at the Rebels, Higginbotham surpassed Owen Finegan as the leading try-scoring forward in Super Rugby history, and was awarded the 2015 Growden Medal Award for being the most consistent player among the Australian provinces.